Sonendo® Closes $35 Million Equity Financing Round

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Dec. 12, 2016 -- Sonendo, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology for dentistry, announced today it has completed an equity financing totaling $35 million through new and existing investors.  The financing round led by DiNovA Capital will allow Sonendo to advance the commercialization of its GentleWave^® System as an alternative to standard root canal treatment and develop additional products in adjacent verticals to leverage its Multisonic Ultracleaning™ technology platform. 

New investors DiNovA Capital and CVF, LLC, an affiliate of Henry Crown & Company, joined with existing investors Fjord Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors, LLC, Meritech Capital Partners, NeoMed Management and SEB Private Equity to form the investor syndicate.  In connection with the financing, Michael Zhao of DiNovA Capital has joined the Sonendo Board of Directors.  Mr. Zhao noted, “Sonendo’s GentleWave System is uniquely positioned to transform endodontic therapy by delivering exponential improvements in clinical efficacy.  DiNovA Capital is pleased to join Sonendo’s existing investors and we look forward to supporting the management and employees of Sonendo in bringing this exciting, innovative product to patients.”

Sonendo President and CEO Bjarne Bergheim commented, "With DiNovA Capital and CVF, LLC, we are pleased to expand our top-tier syndicate of committed, long-term investors who recognize the significant potential of this breakthrough technology.  Proceeds from this financing will provide the critical resources to support the growth of our commercialization efforts of the GentleWave System as well as continuing our development activities in furthering our Multisonic Ultracleaning technology platform.  Our investors share our passion for helping dentists deliver significant, patient-centric, improvements in clinical efficacy and treatment efficiency as we continue to live up to our mission of Saving Teeth Through Sound Science^®.”

About DiNovA Capital

Founded in 2011, DiNovA Capital is a leading venture capital firm dedicated to healthcare industry and consists of talented and globally connected professionals who have extensive experience in investment management, private equity, venture capital and incubation.  Our team leverages its knowledge, connections, network and support to assist our partners and portfolio companies in seizing new opportunities for substantial growth.  DiNovA Capital currently manages five USD and RMB funds.

About CFV, LLC

CVF, LLC is the venture capital arm of Henry Crown & Company, a privately-owned investment company.

About Fjord Ventures 

Fjord Ventures is a life-science focused technology accelerator that provides operational management expertise and a highly capital efficient shared infrastructure to portfolio companies.  Since its formation in 2005, Fjord Ventures has created over 10 companies and, together with its affiliates, invests in its portfolio companies from seed through later stage rounds.  Sonendo was founded by Olav Bergheim, the founder of Fjord Ventures.  For more information, please visit: www.fjordventures.com.

About OrbiMed Advisors, LLC

OrbiMed is a leading investment firm dedicated exclusively to the healthcare sector, with over $14 billion in assets under management. OrbiMed invests globally across the spectrum of healthcare companies, from venture capital start-ups to large multinational companies. OrbiMed's team of more than 90 employees manages a series of private equity funds, public equity funds, royalty/debt funds and other investment vehicles.  OrbiMed maintains its headquarters in New York City, with additional offices in San Francisco, Shanghai, Mumbai and Herzliya.

About Meritech Capital Partners
Meritech Capital Partners is a leading provider of late-stage venture capital to category-defining private technology companies.  With over $3 billion under management, Meritech primarily leads investments into companies with proven and differentiated technology, rapidly-growing revenue and experienced management teams.  With one of the most active venture portfolios in Silicon Valley, Meritech provides guidance on issues facing rapidly growing companies including IPO market timing and positioning, M&A strategies and negotiations and adviser selection.  Meritech investments in industry-leading companies include Acclarent, Box, Cloudera, Cornerstone OnDemand, Coupa, Facebook, Fortinet, Glaukos, Mulesoft, NetSuite, Proofpoint, Salesforce, Snap, Tableau and Zulily.

About NeoMed Management
NeoMed is a Jersey based investment firm, exclusively focused on investments in the healthcare industry. Founded in 1997, NeoMed has established five funds to date. NeoMed invests in emerging companies with outstanding growth prospects. These companies are developing innovative and proprietary medical products that address substantial market opportunities in the pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics industries. NeoMed has a multi-stage investment approach and invests at all stages of development from start-up to later stage growth financings.  Since inception, NeoMed has successfully invested in more than 40 companies in Europe, including Scandinavia, Switzerland, Germany and the UK, and in North America.

About SEB Private Equity
SEB Private Equity is a part of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) and invests capital from top-tier third party institutions.  Established in 1856, SEB is one of the major Nordic banks with strong historic linkage to the industrial sector.  Since its formation in 1998, SEB Private Equity has become a leading global private equity investor based in the Nordics focusing on developing companies both operationally and strategically by partnering with entrepreneurs and managers.  SEB Private Equity has managed to build a highly networked and experienced team with the skill-set to source proprietary investment opportunities from its networks, execute on transactions, strategically and operationally improve the company fundamentals and as such create value for investors over the long-term.  Combined over the various investment strategies, SEB Private Equity manages about USD 4bn in capital on behalf of clients and makes investments both across the Nordics and globally.

About Sonendo
Sonendo, Inc. is a privately-held, venture-backed company developing innovative and disruptive technologies to transform dentistry by Saving Teeth Through Sound Science^®.  The first commercially available product from Sonendo, the GentleWave^® System, available in the US, shows significant improvements in clinical efficacy, and treatment efficiency when compared to standard root canal techniques^1-2.  For more information please visit: www.sonendo.com. 

¹Sigurdsson A et al. (2016) J Endod. 42:1040-48. ²Molina B et al. (2015) J Endod. 41:1701-05.

Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are based on management's beliefs, assumptions and expectations and on information currently available to management.  All statements that address events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future are forward-looking statements, including without limitation our expectations with respect to the timing and progress of research and development activities.  Management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made.  However, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they speak only as of the date when made.  Sonendo does not assume any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  Actual results, developments or events could differ materially from those disclosed in the forward-looking statements.        

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